For horses that have sustained a Tendon or Supensory Ligament injury, we also produce the Dalmar Tendon Support. Tested extensively by the Royal Veterinary College, this injury treatment boot provides a controlled and continuous support throughout the healing process from acute through convalescence and back to training.

Revolutionary tendon injury treatment for horses as tested by senior scientists at the Royal Veterinary College UK and published in the November/December issue of Equine Veterinary Journal.

Previous treatments for tendon injury are notoriously unsatisfactory and required plaster casting of the Fetlock joint for a number of weeks followed by six months to a year of stable rest. Following cast removal the tendons are plunged from full support to zero support, recurrence of injury is high due to imperfect healing and a long layoff is inevitable.

For the first time a tendon support boot, which can provide continuous support during rehabilitation from acute injury through convalescence and back to training and which can significantly reduce tendon strain in exercising horses, has been developed. It has under gone extensive testing, both under laboratory conditions and in real live situations. The Dalmar Tendon Support Boot is a revolutionary adjustable support system designed to provide a controlled support to injured Flexor tendons and suspensory ligaments as they heal. The benefits of such a system are enormous. It is now possible for veterinary surgeons to provide support to injured flexor tendons and suspensory ligaments throughout the healing process from the day the injury occurs until the horse resumes training. As controlled mechanical loading improves tendon healing, this device has enabled animals to be brought back into light work earlier and improved the quality of the healed soft tissue. The boot can be applied easily and removed at any time during the healing process, greatly simplifying examination and monitoring of the injured limb.

The new boot has under gone extensive testing, both under laboratory conditions and in real live situations. In a new study, published in November issue of Equine Veterinary Journal, conducted by senior equine scientists at the Royal Veterinary College in the U.K, the Dalmar Tendon Support Boot was compared to the other conventional methods currently used to support horses tendons. These included everything from traditional bandages, neoprene exercise boots to modern casting materials. The study concluded that the Dalmar Tendon Support Boot provides significantly more support to horses tendons than even the best plaster casts. But remarkably the Dalmar Tendon Support Boot allows horses to exercise and provides variable tendon support throughout the healing process from immediate post injury through to the resumption of training. By means of its simple adjustment, it is possible to reduce gradually the amount of support the boot provides to the injured tendons as they heal.

The Dalmar Tendon Support boot has been in development over the past ten years by Andrew Daly, a well-known industrial designer and a graduate of Imperial College in London. Development was in conjunction with Irish equine vet John Hyde, the Royal Veterinary College UK, Imperial College of Science Technology and Medicine and with technology transfer from the Jordan Formula One team. The patented system is manufactured in Ireland by Dalmar Ltd. This Cork based company was founded by Andrew Daly who is himself heavily involved in the equine industry in Ireland. In his development of tendon protection products, Daly has tackled all the causes of tendon injury in horses not only strain and overreaching but also the lesser know cause - overheating of the tendons that occurs when a horse exercises. Vets now acknowledge excessive heat build up in the tendon cores as a fundamental cause of injury in galloping horses. Hence Daly’s designs also include the world’s first ultra lightweight air-cooled tendon boot designed to cool a horse’s leg while it gallops.

Extracts from Royal Veterinary College paper:

As a treatment of tendon injury the Dalmar Variable Support System enables vets to give support to tendons throughout the healing process from immediate post injury treatment through to commencement of training.

“The Dalmar Tendon Support Boot provided greater resistance to MCP joint extension than the other support methods. The diverging plots at each of its three settings show that as limb load / MCP joint angle increased the boot provided increasing degrees of resistance to MCP joint extension. The effectiveness of such a device suggests that it should be a useful as adjunctive treatment of flexor tendon injury. The Dalmar Tendon Support Boot can provide continuous support during rehabilitation from acute injury through convalescence and back to training. By means of its adjustment, it is possible to reduce gradually the amount of support the boot provides to the injured tendons as they heal.”

Improved healing.

“Furthermore it can also provide support after cast removal in cases of tendon laceration or suspensory failure similar to casting methods, but with the added benefit of still allowing MCP joint mobility. As controlled mechanical loading is believed to improve tendon healing this device has enabled animals to be brought back into light work earlier and improved the quality of the healed soft tissue. The boot can be applied easily and removed at any time during the healing process, greatly simplifying examination and monitoring of the injured limb.”

As an Injury prevention it is also the first support system, which was proven to be able to provide superior support to horses while exercising.

“Unlike the casting splints, the design of the Dalmar Tendon Support Boot allows unrestricted flexion of the MCP joint so that it is suitable for use in exercising horses. This means that it can also be used to protect the flexor tendons from overstrain during exercise. The boots have been fitted to 14 National Hunt horses undertaking routine gallop exercise for periods of 8 to 24 weeks by one of the authors. The boots were well tolerated by all horses without any signs of damage to the underlying skin or associated structures. The low mass of the boot (200g), which is similar to other exercise boots, means that it can be worn during exercise either as a support during rehabilitation of tendon injury or perhaps to guard against traumatic overstrain. At gallop, limb force will increase to about 1.3 – 1.4 bodyweight and the design of the boot is such that at it’s lowest setting it provides increasing degrees of support as the joint angle increases. If so adjusted, the boot has minimal effect on tendon force and energy storage during normal galloping and therefore, will not affect the normal motion of the horse.”